It is said that every family holds a secret which defines its identity. To uncover said secret means to get to the core of what makes that community of people, but at the same time it will provide answers to matters that have always felt strange to its members, establishing a foundation for the next generation to move on. Looking at family pictures or home videos of her parents and siblings, you may think that director Vicky Du‘s family is pretty much typical Asian-American, showing all the signs of the accomplishments and struggles immigrants have to go through. However, as Du delved deeper into what she had perceived as a “cultural thing”, she uncovers a secret about her family which sheds new light on what has was presented as normal all those years.
Light of the Setting Sun is screening at CAAMFest
Therefore Du’s documentary “Light of the Setting Sun” is perhaps more of a detective story as well as a family drama. Divided into several chapters focusing on each of her family members, the director interviews her relatives living in the United States as well as those living in Taiwan. With the help of their accounts we slowly establish the family history starting from the Chinese Communist revolution in 1949, the struggles in Taiwan and later on the immigration to the US along with its reasons. Terra Jean Long’s editing in combination with the line of questioning unveils several aspects, starting with events which have been repressed through generations or ones now presented in a new light. Thus, the process of understanding and realization the director went through is also the one of the audience, making “Light of the Setting Sun” a very intimate and at times quite touching documentary.
While the story is quite personal, Du hints at the possibility of her family’s story being somewhat similar to other families who have had the same experiences. As she and brother look at a family picture and later on the home video of Du being a teenager and celebrating her birthday, we get an idea of the trauma which has been passed on to them. The happiness of certain moments is overshadowed or accompanied by something darker, something unspoken, much like the large gaps in their family’s history, which, as Du says herself, might relate to something bad that has occurred.
“Light of the Setting Sun” is a personal and quite moving story of intergenerational trauma and the uncovering of a family secret.
